Venlafaxine can't deal with it anymore advice please!

Hi sorry about posting again but I don't know what to do anymore! I have a 12 week old son and I am suffering bad at the moment! I was started on mirtazapine 30mg about 8 weeks ago now but wasn't working alone for postnatal depression and anxiety (only helped anxiety) so therefore the psychiatrist added in Venlafaxine 75mg! For the first few days I felt really nervous/excited of a morning time but this would pass and then for two weeks I couldn't believe how great I felt!! I was back to myself loving life as a new mum! Then all of a sudden one day I felt a bit weird in my head (kind of like tingling) and the anxiety came back along with the nervous/excited feeling! I waited for a few days to see if it would pass but it didn't the anxiety was worse than ever!! So I rang back the psychiatrist who increased the Venlafaxine to 150mg!! Now that was 8 days ago and the nervous/excited feeling is still there more than ever along with weird head sensations and feeling on edge constantly it is sending my anxiety soaring!! I am resorting to having to take diazepam nearly every other day! I feel so horrible and numb and full of anxiety! I don't feel like the same person anymore! It's affecting my relationship with my partner and my baby! I don't think this drug agrees with me!! I am still taking the mirtazapine which helps me sleep at night! My question is would the psychiatrist be able to switch my meds or will I have to withdraw first? Or is this normal to feel like this? All in all I have been taking Venlafaxine for 6 weeks and I feel awful! Apart from a week or so in between where I felt back to myself! I really don't know what to do anymore I'm so scared that this anxiety is never going to leave me and I am going to be like this for the rest of my life! I am only 24 and was looking forward so much to being a mum and now I am this horrible wreck! :(

Hi hun, you've only been on ven for 6 weeks which isn't long enough in my opinion for it to work properly plus you only increased your dose 8 weeks ago, ven is a very good med and the combo mirt and ven is supposed to be brilliant, i found ven very slow acting for it so it took a while for it to start working properly and I got awful side effects too, my anxiety rocketed to a level that petrified me when I last increased, i was absolutely petrified and thought I would never get better, i spent my days curled up in bed praying it would stop and around the 3 week mark the side effects started to lesson and my anxiety calmed down and from there I saw improvements and now 5 months down the line im so pleased I stuck the increase out, i too was taking Diazepam everyday when I increased which my Gp and physc were both fine about and slowly I started to not need it. You've done a fairly big increase, 75mg to 150mg, i only used to increase mine by 37.5mg at a time as the side effects were so bad for me but you've done 8 days now so if you can hang on in there a while longer im almost certain you will start to get better. My anxiety increased so much when I last increased that I used to sit on the sofa and literally rock back and forth with my head in my hands and like you i considered stopping numerous times but I'm so pleased I didn't. Unfortunately all these meds come with these side effects so even if you swap your going to have to go thro side effects, the only AD i didn't have side effects with and neither do alot of people is mirt like your on but unfortunately this didn't work for me so I was switched to ven. All your feeling at the min I would say is normal with your increase and the amount of time in total you've been taking ven so if you can try and stick it out a bit longer and in the meantime use your Diazepam to help you. I promise you this feeling doesn't last altho at the time when your experiencing it you can't see a way out XX

Hiya!

The tingling you felt, I wish they had been able to tell you, is actually "normal", a part of your system settling in to the ven. It sounds as though the not knowing and fear sent you into anxiety. :(

I only knew because I did a LOT of reading about how the antidepressants work with the serotonin in your brain. Nothing to be afraid of, but how would you know that? Also, after that, there is a normal spike in anxiety (or at the least, in all the physical symptoms of anxiety) with each increase, which is, again, the drug having it's effect on serotonin receptors. This is normal, and temporary, and given that you have only been on it 6 weeks, and did have a positive experience along the way, I am tempted to encourage you to give it another two weeks at 150, before you throw in the towel.

Maybe an adjustment with the mirtazapine will help alleviate your anxiety? It stands to reason that as the ven is adjusted it may need to be as well. ... At any rate, there will be no need for you to do a withdrawal from venlaxafine if you decide to change meds. You can cross-taper, your pdoc will know how best to do this. You need to understand that you will experience odd sensations as this is done, and it may go on for some days.

Most of us have had a trial and error experience with medications, and gone through these sorts of ups and downs before finding the right dose for a good length of time. And part of knowing that we are not at that right dose yet is, unfortunately, feeling unwell until get there. :(

Maybe a slower titration down to 75 mg again (down by 37.5 mg to 112 for a couple of weeks) may help? I went very slowly, by use of the 37.5 capsules up from the start, at two week to one month intervals, depending on how I was feeling. Mostly I was feeling like I wanted to let the side effects and sensations settle down each time before proceeding. I did know that it would be ever upwards though, because winter would be toughest depression-wise, and that's when I would need more help. Meanwhile, I very much still had other side effects as well from nausea and lightheadedness to tense muscles/stomach cramps to bad brain fog, most for several weeks, up to five or more. And, every so often, that tingling in my brain. It all went away again after I settled onto the dose. Perhaps for you, the 75 mg was doing fine and you just needed a bit more support with understanding how the drug works? That lifting of the depression is a good sign and will return, especially as you and your baby get into a routine more. Take heart, the first few months is tough on new parents, but obviously the joys are immeasurable. xo

Good luck, hun! Many congrats to you and hubby, fingers crossed for you that the post-partum gets sorted very soon.
Marie :bighug1:

---------- Post added at 21:38 ---------- Previous post was at 21:32 ----------

Oh! There, I see that Nicola has popped on as I was typing, good! Hiya, Nicola! So pleased to hear things are going fine now with you and the ven! Me too :)

And so we are a tag team of reassurance! Lol! Absolutely lucky to have stuck with the ven!

Thank you for your replies! I just feel so horrid all on edge/nervous/paranoid/shaky I can't even go out the house I'm not even eating now because I constantly feel like this! And my mind is bringing up worries from years ago that I don't need to worry about because I feel like this! I have bitten my nails right down to nothing! I just feel so horrible and scared that I'm going to feel all edgy for the rest of my life! I just don't think this medication is for me at all! I can't go on feeling this nervous! My stomach is constantly doing somersaults! I probably would be able to see it through if I didn't have a baby to look after but my partner is at work and it's just me and the baby! I've just rang the psychiatrist and I'm waiting for someone to call me back! What do you think my options will be? I just feel so scared :(

Let us know what your physc suggests you do hun, it is very hard when your feeling like this and more so as you have a newborn to look after, i struggled to look after my 14 year old. Your physc will probably tell you to lower your dose again to 75mg, when's your next appointment with them? XX

Hi I've spoken to the psychiatrist over the phone they want to leave the Ven as it is and have increased the mirtazapine to 45mg! I'm just hoping now that this will work for me and I'm on the road to recovery! I just feel so upset with how I feel! I just want to feel happy and be me again! Xxxx thank you for your replies

Good luck with the mirt increase, im sure in a week or so you'll be feeling much better XX

Thank you I really hope so xxx